Dick Blume/The Post-StandardTrees in flower along Onondaga Creek, in Franklin Square: The warm spring has caused many plants and trees to blossom early.

The Post-Standard

May 7, 2010

Sean Kirst, columnist

Mark Olszewski got his wish. It arrived in the final week of a long career with the city of Syracuse, in the final days of one of the most extraordinary Aprils that we've seen.

If you know this guy, it's doubtful that you call him "Mark." His nickname is Otis, and he spent 38 years with the city, the last six in a dream job with the parks department. He was a groundskeeper, renowned for what he did with baseball and softball diamonds. You could give Otis some chalk and a pile of fresh dirt and he'd turn a tired neighborhood park into a jewel.

"When I was a kid, you just always wanted to play on a nice field," Otis said. "And if the kids today see you working on it, if you make it beautiful, if you stay to 'spec' and make the lines nice and straight, then they respect it."

Otis was a fixture at parks around the city. He would go there in shorts and his sleeveless T-shirt, handling his rake with an artist's touch, often listening to the New York Yankees on the radio. Usually, he was teamed with Jimmy Ziemann, an old friend and groundskeeping partner who mowed the grass.

Now and then, Otis would lean against his rake and describe a fantasy: Just once, before he retired, he wanted to create a baseball field from scratch.

Last week, at Lincoln Park, he got the chance.

"It was great," he said. "Conditions were perfect."

He was talking about our weather in April. Just .84 inches of rain fell in the month, according to Jessica Rennells, a climatologist with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell. The mean temperature was a mild 51.8 degrees. According to the National Weather Service in Binghamton, the only April with less rain in Syracuse happened in 1915, and only the April of 1921 was warmer.

It was so pleasant that things got downright strange. Eileen Gannon, co-owner of the Gannon's Isle ice cream shop in the Valley, found herself serving long lines at a time of year in which she's prepared to see some snow. That helped Gannon's to set a record for April business, Eileen said. And Terry Ettinger, a Central New York horticulturist, noted how area maple trees have already been in leaf for weeks, while in other years those trees might still be close to bare.

"There was one point where we were a solid three weeks ahead of schedule," Ettinger said, referring to blossoming plants. Yet he remains worried about the lack of rain. Even with Thursday's thunderstorm, Syracuse is more than four inches behind average precipitation for this time of year, according to Mike Nadolski, a weather service meteorologist.

Ettinger does not attribute those numbers to global warming. He recalled how last summer was cool and wet, more akin to Great Britain or the Pacific northwest than to Syracuse. As for the extraordinarily mild April, many Central New Yorkers have waited years for such a gorgeous early spring. This one delivered, in a big way: There were three days in April when temperatures exceeded 80 degrees, Nadolski said, and five days that were warmer than 70.

That was perfect for Otis, whose final day of work was May 1. Before he left, he was given one last job by city parks commissioner Pat Driscoll. A youth baseball diamond at Lincoln Park had gone unused for years, and the Eastwood Little League needed that field. Driscoll sent Otis to do his best at Lincoln, a park that offers a sweeping view of the city.

In his last week as a groundskeeper, Otis embraced the challenge. While the park retained an ancient backstop, the field itself was lost beneath tall grass. Otis and Ziemann went to work. They cut fresh basepaths. They spent hours molding the pitcher's mound and leveling the turf. Finally, they added the absolute last touch, putting down fresh lines on the basebaths.

They stepped back. They studied the white chalk and dark soil, surrounded by thick grass.